This pillar of the SGI examines each country's policy performance in terms of three dimensions of sustainable development. If the goal of politics is to promote sustainable development, and if citizens are to be empowered to live their lives in accordance with their own individual talents, then governments must be able to establish and maintain the social, economic and environmental conditions for such well-being and empowerment. The conditions for social progress must be generated by suitable outcomes in certain policy fields. Such outcomes are examined by the Policy Performance pillar, which is comprised of 16 policy fields grouped in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Each policy field is addressed by a qualitative assessment and additional quantitative data. The point here is to examine domestic policymaking as well as the extent to which governments actively contribute to the provision of global public goods. The areas examined are:

1. Economic Policies: economy, labor markets, taxes, budgets, research and innovation, global financial system.
2. Social Policies: education, social inclusion, health, families, pensions, integration policy, safe living conditions, global inequalities.
3. Environmental Policies: environment policy, global environmental protection.